Soccer Daily: USA-Canada Caps the Window, Lewandowski Meets Müller, and Ronaldo's Portugal Standoff Rolls On

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2026 — No Premier League this weekend. No MLS this weekend. Club football went dark for the international window — and the window answered with the loudest closing act it could manage. A record-breaking 17-year-old. An 18-year-old who cannot stop scoring. A rivalry doubleheader tonight — the USMNT's perfect window against Canada in St. Paul, and Lewandowski vs. Müller in Chicago. Cristiano Ronaldo walking out on Portugal. And the Premier League's only perfect team heading into the biggest fixture of the season so far. Here is the state of the soccer world as the club game gets ready to roar back.

The kids are more than all right: USMNT 3, Mexico 0

The United States closed its October business Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona, with a 3-0 dismantling of Mexico — and the story was not the scoreline, it was the birth certificates. Julian Hall, 18, scored for the third straight game to open his international career, the opener in a rivalry rout. Cavan Sullivan, 17, found the net too, becoming the youngest goalscorer in United States men's national team history at 17 years and five days. Hall is only the third player ever to score in each of his first three caps. Mauricio Pochettino's side finished the window a perfect 3-0 — 4-1 over Peru, a 4-2 comeback over Chile, 3-0 over Mexico — with 11 goals scored, three conceded, and 13 MLS players in the squad. The post-World Cup rebuild is no longer a promise. It is producing.

Tonight: USA vs. Canada caps the window

And the window's final act is a genuine rivalry game. The U.S. hosts Canada tonight at 8 p.m. ET at Allianz Field in St. Paul, Minnesota — on TNT, truTV, HBO Max, Universo and Peacock in the States, TSN, RDS and OneSoccer in Canada — with the Americans 3-0 and the Canadians 2-0. Jesse Marsch's side beat Chile 1-0 and then Peru 2-0 at Stade Saputo on Saturday, LAFC's Jacob Shaffelburg scoring both against Peru, his first goals for Canada in nearly two years. Canada added Minnesota's Marcus Caldeira — a first call-up who could debut on his home ground — and Toronto's Theo Corbeanu after Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan dropped out injured. The edge is real: Canada is unbeaten against the USMNT under Marsch, winning a September 2024 friendly and the Nations League third-place game in March 2025, both 2-1. All-time the rivalry reads 17 American wins, 12 Canadian and 13 draws in 42 meetings. Perfect windows are on the line for both sides — and after tonight, the Nations League quarter-finals wait in November, at Haiti on the 14th and home against Haiti in Cincinnati on the 17th.

Lewandowski vs. Müller, finally

The other half of tonight's doubleheader belongs to MLS. Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver Whitecaps — the July 16 fixture, postponed for hazardous Canadian wildfire smoke, finally gets played — and it delivers the reunion everyone has been waiting for: Robert Lewandowski against Thomas Müller, Bayern Munich teammates for 333 matches, now opponents.

Lewandowski, 38, is available after serving a suspension during Poland's Nations League game against Bosnia on Monday. Müller, fresh off signing a Vancouver extension through 2027 announced Monday, leads the side sitting top of the Western Conference on 50 points. Chicago are fifth in the East on 42, pushing for playoff seeding with the regular season ending November 8. Two legends, one rescheduled night, everything to play for. The full MLS playoff picture

Ronaldo walks out on Portugal

The biggest soccer story in the world this week is not a game. Cristiano Ronaldo, 41, left Portugal's camp on September 30 after being an unused substitute — for the first time in a competitive match since 2008 — in the 2-1 Nations League win over Norway. The captain now faces a possible one-to-six-month suspension from the Portuguese federation, says he will “tell the truth” about his departure, and has drawn public criticism of coach Jorge Jesus from Georgina Rodríguez. Jesus says the door is open.

Here is the awkward part for everyone: Portugal did not miss him. Gonçalo Ramos has scored in all three of his starts filling in, Portugal beat Norway again 2-1 on Sunday — João Cancelo equalizing after Kristoffer Ajer's opener, Ramos winning it in the 79th minute, Francisco Conceição sent off — and became the first team to qualify for the Nations League quarter-finals. Norway are bottom of the group with two games left. An emergency meeting with federation president Pedro Proença is on the books. This one is not over. Yesterday: Jesus puts Ronaldo's Portugal future in his hands

Haaland's scare, Mbappé's knee, England's statement

Two injury stories defined the window — one that isn't, and one that is. Erling Haaland signaled to come off and limped out of Norway's loss to Portugal in the 67th minute, sending a jolt through Manchester. Norway boss Ståle Solbakken calmed it fast: exhaustion, he said, after Haaland played nearly every minute of a four-game window. The expectation is that Haaland — seven goals in seven appearances to start the season — is fit for Liverpool vs. Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.

Kylian Mbappé's news is worse. The French star hyperextended the posterior capsule of his left knee scoring the winner in Zinedine Zidane's first game as France coach, the 1-0 win over Türkiye on September 25. Real Madrid confirmed the diagnosis; he is back in Spain, missed the rest of France's internationals, and is out 10 to 12 days — a doubt for Roma vs. Real Madrid in the Champions League on October 14. And England? Thomas Tuchel's side made the loudest statement of the window: 7-0 over Croatia in Rijeka on Saturday, with Bournemouth's Alex Scott making his full debut — then withdrawing from the squad with a quadriceps injury that will cost him six to eight weeks and Saturday's trip to Chelsea, the club that had a £64m summer bid for him rejected. England host Czechia at Wembley tonight.

The restart: Anfield, PSG, and the Ballon d'Or

Club football returns this weekend, and it returns with a heavyweight fight. Premier League Matchweek 6 runs October 10–12: Arsenal host Leeds and Manchester United host Tottenham on Saturday, and on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET, Liverpool vs. Manchester City at Anfield — the fixture that has decided so many recent title races, arriving early enough to detonate this one. City are the league's only perfect team at 5-0-0; Liverpool sit on nine points, with Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo injury doubts and Phil Foden suspended for City. The state of the title race

Then Europe. Champions League Matchday 2 on October 13–14 brings Manchester City vs. holders PSG, Roma vs. Real Madrid, Atlético vs. Manchester United and Arsenal vs. Lille; the Europa League follows on October 15 with Lyon vs. Crystal Palace and Benfica vs. Celtic. And the season's individual honors take shape on October 26, when the Ballon d'Or ceremony lands at the London Palladium — Harry Kane the pundits' favorite after England's third-place World Cup finish, with Lamine Yamal, Mbappé and reigning champion Ousmane Dembélé in the mix, Lionel Messi earning a 17th nomination and Rodri back on the shortlist. Ballon d'Or 2026: the full shortlist

Five games into the Premier League season, a month from the MLS playoffs, a week from the Champions League's second matchday — the soccer world has never felt more like it is all happening at once. The window is closed. The real season starts now.